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OOOoohhhh and its in PINK! Yes girls this is the newest toy on the market from Spellbinders

its the

Grand Calibur

Grand Calibur. GC-001. The Grand Calibur allows crafters to use up to 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper. The box size is 15¾ x 8½ x 10½ inch. The machine weighs about 15 lbs. Including the plates and packaging.

Yes you can use all your current nesties and the new BIGGER sized one too, this is the prize for our up and coming SIMPLY SASSY card maker competition. This is judges and will not be a random winner, there will be an open call to all you sugar addicts to post your pic's of your choice of card made with a SIMPLY SASSY stamp, we will narrow the choice down to the final few and finally choose one winner who will get this pink beauty under the Christmas tree.

Oh don't you just love her, she opens up so many ideas to be used with poems about rainbows and colour. Dena has so much detail on this card, from the stitching to glitter around the edges.

WOW I am so impressed with all the DT and the standard of work they submit. As always a huge thank you from me and those who read this blog. Sadly the postal system in torturing Donalda as her sweet packet of sassy stamps has not arrived! The post has been generally good of late with nothing going astray but when it does its such a pain, especially when Donalda sees the others getting to play with the new designs, I am sure they will turn up soon.

So Artistic Godess is the last one of six stamps but only five will be available to buy as singles, want to know which one will not be available for some time. Hippie Chick, she is the limited edition stamp that is included free of charge with all pre orders for the other five. I will be doing all the packaging this week and getting ready for pre orders to close, then Funkykits will get those out to you asap, I think pre orders close Monday 4th with rubber being sent out the following weekend. Singles will be available some time after that as I have to catch up with everything else first.

Enjoy the rest of Sunday, I am off to a crafty get together in the village hall, I might even try the new sketch from the Sugar Bowl while I am there, if I am making a cards any way I might as well follow the sketch and try our for the prize!
take care
Karen

WOW the DT are having lots of fun with these fabulous SIMPLY SASSY stamps

and I still have one left to show you!

I arrived back home late last night and am still catching up with emails and stuff, two days without connection! OMG that's harder that going without coffee! I did do a little shopping in Glasgow, 4 Christmas pressies done and a lot of bakery home from Costco*naughty naughty*.

SO did you treat yourself to anything SASSY this weekend, I see that Mark over at Funkykits has put the set up for pre order,

Why not join in and try out this easy peasy sketch, you are welcome to combine it with another challenge as long as we can see a Sugar Nellie stamp used it will fit our challenge too.

Good luck girls, I am looking forward to seeing who made the Sugar Bowl Sweetie call, I don't envy Gayle that choice but it makes my job a lot easier to choose my DT from amongst the sweeties first and foremost.

Have a supper sweet weekend, I know I will just by the amount of cake in this house.

A few more DT cards to convince you that you DO deserve to treat yourselves to these

SIMPLY SASSY stamps.

Krista's artwork is not only sassy but its fun and modern, it's in fashion and very usable. I have made some of the images more palatable to the stamping world but it does not take away from

the original style that Krista has found in her characters.

We have deliberately stayed away from seasonal designs as much as we love her witches, because we want to offer you stamps that you can use all year round. With so much stamps in the world of rubber to choose from these days, it is important to offer the stamper value for money and not one use stamps.

By the reports coming in from the DT, these are going to be inked and coloured with loved for a long time.

Sarah has done a brilliant job with this new stamp from our SIMPLY SASSY range, the colours are so vibrant and I am loving the CAS look of these cards. A little matting and layering and super fun to colour especially the hair, I am sure we all know a teen that would love a card, book mark or even a note book with this Sassy Student.

So that is number 5, only one more to show you and all posts for the rest of the week will have to be scheduled. I am off to Glasgow to collect Debbie from the airport, she is returning from her summer job in NY and I am sure she will have lots to tell us. I have a couple of things to do in Glasgow while I am there, a little shopping too, I will maybe even start the Christmas shopping as I dont get to town often.

Ain't she cute, Krista's original art first for you to see at the top, then the stamp design and last but not least is a beautiful card by Dena. It is a shame that the girls in America have to wait a little longer for the post to delivery their DT packages,but there was no stopping Dena yesterday once the rubber arrived. The word from our DT is they just love these stamps and they also love to colour them too :)

Not sure about name's yet but packaging is still on the drawing board so no hurry just yet.

This one reminds me of the song, "this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine" but then again she could be scared of the dark or it might be Halloween or Christmas eve, no wonder my brain is porridge, its working too hard! Krista named her Things that go bump in the night, which leads me to believe she has climbed down the stairs to find out what's happening, will teddy as her comfort in case she gets scared.

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Dena has also been busy and used her Sugar Nellie stamps to enter the Sugar Bowl challenge blog with this beauty. Gingerbread Girl looks great in her fur lined pink coat, off to a neighbour with a basket of home made gingerbread men. A friend who brings around home bakes, that's better than chocolate in this house!

Pre order of the set of FIVE new stamps will open this weekend and last until Monday 4th October. As a thank you from Sugar Nellie for you continued loyalty and support of Scotland sweetest stamp company, we will be giving those who pre order all five a special stamp FOC, not available to buy on its own for near future. It will be one of the six that I preview but I will let you know which one is the limited edition at the end. Yes you know I love to tease, its the only fun I have some days :P

Number three of six first release SIMPLY SASSY stamps by new stamp artist Krista Smith.

We struggled with a name for this one, Krista had her under the heading Pi**sed off Princess and she had a pea on the end of her finger, but it was suggested Pillow Talk and I think we will go with that. Don't you just love those knee high knitted stocks and I am sure she must find those long locks a nightmare to wash and condition but they were a dream to colour.

This card was made by Kate our teacher here in the House Of Sugar, she works in a craft shop all day and still finding time to play at the weekend, that's dedication for ya!

STEP 3 : Sit back and wait to see with the DT make of the new designs.

Sounds real easy doesn't it, but time lines don't all ways turn out the way we would like them. Dena and Donalda have to wait longer for the post to receive their new stamps. The factory sometimes takes weeks rather than days.

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These cards are made by Elaine, our newest DT member, head hunted from the Sweeties over on the Sugar Bowl and we are delighted that she accepted this "promotion".

Here is what Elaine made with HIPPIE CHICK, isn't her colouring fantastic? She has used Distress Inks on these and done a great job.

Now I have chosen not to give any of these away as candy just yet, you can win them all over on the Sugar Bowl with the next challenge up this week, have you done the last challenge? Come on girls even I did it, easy when you just follow the sketch, 30mins tops!

I am planning a little competition with this range, something that would be judged and not a random winner.

We might even have a semi final with the judging down to you.

I just have to think of a prize that would be work competing for.

I do like that new Spellbinders BIG machine? But is that more for Scrapbookers than cardmakers?

I think we give away enough rubber that we can come up with something a bit different this time. Still thinking about it........just give me a minuet.

Our first DT member to send me a card featuring one of the new SIMPLY SASSY stamps was Judy

who also had time to make this

with the new Make a Wish stamp from our Country Cousins range

and finally this autumn themed card for the Sugar Bowl Challenge made with the boy from the Autumn kits which is selling very well in our store, such a great price.

So there you have it sugar addict, one of six stamp from Krista, coming to your favourite web store very soon. For her name it was a choice between Hippie Chick and Flower Power, thanks for all your suggestion's. I will be back soon with another tease.

I hope to open pre order of the SIMPLY SASSY range illustrated by Krista in about a week, I hope to have some cards to show you first, I am sure you are wondering which designs I picked? I am sure I will not disappoint you. I will also be running a competition with the new range, final details are not yet decided but it will be judged not random, maybe even to a final three with you voting for the winner. But I am sure you would like to see them first, patience I am almost ready :)

Take care today girls, weather is wild windy and wet here in Scotland, I am sure the sun is shining somewhere in the world, if your under it, enjoy.

Would our DT guests from the recent blog hop look out for something sweet in the post too. Some thank you rubber coming your way girls, enjoy.

Candy draw ends today, if you are not in it you cant win it! I will be back tomorrow to sprinkle the candy about amongst the sugar addicts.

Today I have been reviewing artwork and having a peek at the new stock we have arriving in our store of the last of our Christmas demonstration days on Saturday 2nd of October, again we will have Erika from Personal Impressions but also our very own teacher in residence Kate to share some amazing creations for the season. I am loving all the new nest abilities and clear stamps that are arriving this week, CHA was some time ago but new lines are only now reaching the UK.

We usually offer great deals on a demo day but since its our last demo before Christmas we decided that our lovely customers deserve a gift too. Let's just hope that they are not looking for their Christmas gifts wrapped! So if you are local to Elgin its time to get your girlfriends together for a crafty day out only will there be deals, one time only but CUPCAKES!

Planning promotions for SIMPLY SASSY and SIMPLE ADORABLE, busy times ahead. Not only have we two new exciting ranges to launch before you put up your tree but also some favourites from our team :)
If you work for a magazine and are commissioned to do a feature, we at Sugar Nellie would be delighted to supply sweet new stamps for you feature, just drop me a comment with your email and mag details and I will read but not publish it.

Oh the sweetness just keeps on coming. Enjoy the rest of your day, I am off to Brownies!

I had a little play with two of the soon to be released stamps from Mary Hall. A cute little baby which will be used a lot as baby cards are very popular, second only to birthday cards. I followed the sketch over on the Sugar Bowl which meant I did not waste time thinking about what I was going to do, and hence I made 3 cards in less than an hour! This one I also opened my distressing tool from Tim Holtz which is new to me and I can see that it might become addictive.

This card I paper pieced, but after finishing it I felt it was a bit flat so took out my black fine line pen and went around all the edges only to smudge on the last side! Both cards had circles so I took home a set of nest abilities from the class room but could not find my cuttlebug so ended up drawing and cutting them out. I did "gut" the circles for both cards from the purple background as I am thrifty that way.

Why don't you give the challenge blog a go, its easy when you know whats to be done, I did not think too much about it , I just followed the sketch and did no more, nothing fancy just the sketch. Gayle is looking for more sweeties to join in with the Sugar Bowl, you have to apply and please remember its all about the stamps so use a Sugar Nellie stamp in you application card, read the rules and enjoy the challenge.

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Adorable little fairy, waiting for you to sit her on your card or on a cut out shape, nestabilities or a branch of a tree, maybe even a large bauble. Once again she's been drawn so that she

can be used all year round, not just for Christmas.

Anyone out there want a sprinkle of fairy dust to make a wish come true?

Looks like this girl is keeping it all to herself, a little sweet tooth perhaps?

I love candy canes, there are such an obvious sign of Christmas and I usually buy them as soon as they appear in the shops, but I don't let my kids eat them! Oh no, their teeth are bad as it is and there is no way they are sucking on canes of sugar. I do use them as ornaments on the tree, additions to some seasonal craft items etc but after that I would rather throw them out than let the kids eat them.

So what about this sweet tooth, maybe she will share after all that's the spirit of the season?
Karen

The earliest recorded version of this rhyme is in Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus published in London in 1784. Like most early versions of the rhyme it does not include the last four lines:

Goose-a goose-a gander,

Where shall I wander?

Up stairs and down stairs,

In my lady's chamber;

There you'll find a cup of sack

And a race of ginger

So Gossey Gander has been on the go for a long time, think how many children through the ages have sung that, when rhymes, songs, stories and the Bible were all that they had to entertain them. As I child I loved Little House on the Prairie, they had nothing, wooden toys that Pa made were their treasure possessions. Oh when live was simple and children were Innocent.

Christmas will be more than a wooden toy, there is no point feeling guilty, times have changed. And they change in so many ways, I no longer spoil my children because I can, but I restrict what they get in the hope that they appreciate it more, do you think it works? I doubt it! But as a parent you want to do your best for your children, I fail terrible in giving them my undivided attention, but they are happy kits and hopefully will turn out good adults.

I gave in recently and now they both have pets, the guinea pigs are not fussed over as much as they were, I am sure they are enjoying the peace. The hens are still not comfortable in there new home as were have yet to see any eggs. But he's up every morning to look, I even spotted golf balls placed in the nesting boxes, that must be some sort of incentive for them to lay?

Do you think this goose will lay a golden egg?
One winner will be drawn next Wednesday.

Well girls, its great to hear that you love Krista work, I thinks its fun and sassy but also a little bit more grown up than what we are used to. We already have the first batch at the factory, the DT will get these middle of the month and we can show you them later, that's the plan. Lost of questions in your comments so let me tel you a few points.

I have chosen much and such the same as you, snap!
I will be renaming then to make then more agreeable to a wider market.
We will open up pre order once I have some samples from the DT.
There will be five stamps in the first release.Set/Oct
Loyal customers who pre order all 5 will be treated to one very special edition stamp FREE.
You will not be able to buy this special edition stamp any time soon, she will be made especially for the launch. It is one that a lot of you have asked for so I am glad I chose her.
Men will appear in the third batch ;) and I think there are 3 all arriving at once. Hunky good looking men to go with our sassy women, I wonder who inspires Krista on these projects? Might have to ask for a pic of hubby or send her some pictures of my Kellan Lutz collection *drool, pass that bucket Gayle*LOL

I am currently scribbling some words to go with our choice, a little cheeky and a lot of fun, something you would put on the front of a card to your best friend, work mate or girlfriends. Not the usually happy birthday, your are special etc we all have those, something a little sassy.
Not sure that these will be made into rubber, think for now I will just load them up here, like a digi image and you can copy and use if you wish.

With a total of
8 country cousins,
5 Mary Hall and
6 Simply Sassy
all at the factory as we speak, the DT are going to be busy.
I also have artwork from Diane and Leanne on my desk, sugar overload much?
I might just have to pace myself!

But only 4 more Christmas stamps and that's the seasonal selection launched. ALL girls from Country Cousins and I am sure some of you have spotted a couple on tags, but as of tomorrow I will show and give one away each day until you have seen them all.

Would all sugar addicts out there give a huge welcome to Krista Smith our newest illustrator to join the family at the House of Sugar. I discovered the characters which Krista is going to be know for on ETSY and fell in love with them. I love the sassy ones, the nerdy one and the boys too! I love too many on these and have a had time picking which ones to make into stamps. As always I need your help, pop over to Krista's etsy store and see all her super designs,( I will not smack you is some should fall into your shopping basket!), pick your favourite three and come back and tel me.

I know that Krista will go far in the art world and I will watch with delight and excitement as to which doors open for her in the next few year. It is very exciting if not frightening for us to launch an artist into the world of rubber, you would think by now I would be used to it, but it still is nerve racking, this market is so up and down I am never 100% sure of my own choices, in my heart I know that Krista's characters are artistically beautiful, original and a little more grown up than the usual cute children's stamps which are our signature line.

But Sugar Nellie is growing up and we would like you to grow with us, join us from the start and your loyalty will be rewarded, we will be launching 5 new stamps on pre order with the 6th being a limited edition which will be sent FREE to all who pre order the set of 5.

As always I know how you love to get to know the artist behind the designs, after visiting Etsy its clear that Krista is talented, her picture tells us she is young, but also she is a Mother, so lets have a look at the two cuties who inspire some one Krista's work.

Krista is shy by nature she tells me, and did not have a blog, but she has started one now and is giving away an art print so pop on over and leave her some sugar here.

Enjoy your day sugar addicts and remember in a years time when everyone is crazy for Krista, you "met" her here. Good people deserve good things and all good things come to those who wait. Good times ahead, hold on tight its going to be an exciting time :)

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I was Skyped last night by Debbie who some of you will remember went to work in NY this summer and now that the job is finished has taken off to Florida with some of her new friends she has met while working there. Debbie is off to Harry Potter world in Orlando today and a trip to the Florida Mall to A & F of course! A fun few days with friends then off to see her Superman for the final time this summer before coming home later in the month, she has had a blast and would recommend that if anyone gets the opportunity to travel and work overseas, go for it. I am sure she will have plenty of stories to tell me and some she would not dare but this week she is enjoying some time in the sun, lucky thing!
Karen

I am clearing my desk, there is so much to do but I thought that I would treat our loyal sugar addicts today.
There is a lot of you asking and emailing about the new artist behind SIMPLY SASSY, well I am pleased to announce that all legal work is now taken care of and we can sloooooooowwwly reveal a little more about Krista.

Today I will tease you silly, here are 3 snippets of Krista's original art work from which we have had her design stamps exclusively for Sugar Nellie, now the terms of Krista's contract will allow me to take a long look at her portfolio and choose which other designs would make great stamps. I have already got a request in for some men! Yes every sassy girl needs a hot man by her side *wink*

Let me know your thoughts and if I get enough feedback * yes I want to hear, leave me a comment", tomorrow I will give you a link to Krista's portfolio where you can see all the sassy girls and things she does AND come back and tell me which you would like to see made into stamps. Sugar Nellie has always put the customer needs first , your opinion is important and after all with out you we would not be here.

OMG this wee lad is so cute, tears to my eyes watching this and it was not because he " cant carry a tune in a bucket" but because he's happy in his own wee world. He must have been doing these youtube songs for years as hes much older now, not sure how old but he's little in this one, there are many more.

This one is for Gayle, because she is a total Gleek, thats a new word for me LOL and because she loves to hear me sing, I am just so goooood at it! PML pass that bucket!

OK now all I have left to do today is draw the candy...............drum roll please................

have a great day girls, thanks again for everyone who took part and also supported our little hop. I will be sending some RAK to a few of you who left comments around the hop, it will not be today as I have too much things to catch up with after the weekend.

Sunday afternoon tea, yummy brownies sent to me this week, delish. Now its not possible to sit down and have a cup of tea and demolish this box of Brownies with the sender, but she knows given the chance we would and I would have to fight her for the last one, these are seriously yummy and I don't usually do chocolate cake! Thank you "sender" but really save your pennies

and my waste line and don't do that again, :P

Our girls did a fantastic job on the blog hop yesterday, I was up to my eyes but today I should get a few hours to answer emails and do the hop over again and read all your sweet comment left for our girls.

Your were all amazing and very generous to share your time and creations with everyone.

To celebrate I am taking you all out for a virtual afternoon tea, as we are scattered all over the world its the nearest thing to a get together we can have.

So how many sugars? Milk with that?

I have to give a slap to one girl who doubts herself and I can only say that you should never feel stressed out about this, you were chosen for a reason, enjoy and have faith that you are a talented crafter.

Yesterday was full to bursting as was I after so much coffee and cupcakes!

The store was busy, many sell outs and a lot of happy ladies away home to try out some seasonal crafts.

Cup of tea, such an English tradition, do you like my antique china tea set, I have at least 5 and I do believe they might be back in fashion amongst the Cath Kidston lovers. The cabinet which holds my china tea sets has not be opened in years, its locked to keep little finger out, but the key was lost. So today in shear determination to get to these cup, I found a key that may not be the original but it worked.

Improvise , yes as a crafter we have to do a lot of that but in the end the result was the same, success!

I obviously had a thing to tea sets so its understandable that we have this stamps at Sugar Nellie.

Tiets makes great project with pockets and things, go see what on her blog, its well worth a visit.

I also picked up some starbucks coffee packets in Tesco and planned to use Manga to do something

similar for coffee lovers. Maybe one day when I retire I will find the time to try out all these ideas, or maybe a stamp camp would be a good place to go and have nothing but crafting to do for a few days, I am sure I could get plenty done then if inspired by fellow crafters and lots of cake!

If you know of a great craft camp let me know, I am happy to travel to USA if that's where the action is, we did have a great time at Scrap a Ganza in Holland a few years ago and I do miss it, so where else is a girl to go for a craft weekend that is not attached to one stamp brand?

Today I have a very inpatient 11 year old waiting for his 5 new brown hens he collected yesterday to lay some eggs!

I have to have a giggle at him,the expectant father LOL let hope they lay before school on Monday or I don't think I will be able to get him down the road onto the school bus.

The lonely guinea pig has been joined by two girls, there were no boys at the pet shop, so until its time to worry about what comes next, they are happy and hopefully safe now that the dog has the hens to stalk.

Enjoy your day of rest and remember that this is the last day to enter the candy draw.

Our fantastic DT and super talented Guests have been working on a selection of recipe's

to tickle your taste buds,

we have some old favourites and some new ideas for you to try out at home,

gather up you ingredients and put on your pinny,

It's time to cook up a yummy selection of seasonal treats which you can also do all year round.

Christmas ingredients have been used in this blog hop but replace with local seasonal produce

to make these recipes work all year round for you.

Please show your appreciation to our girls for all their hard work not only on this hop but each and every week that they choose to spend their time working on creations that they freely share with you via their blogs. Leave them some sugar, some sweet comments to let them know they are very much appreciated.

one winner will win all 4 new Christmas Mangas and one Mary Hall Christmas stamp, that's 5

new stamps to one lucky winner,be quick this draw closes on Sunday 9/5/2010 11:59 PM GMT.

You know the drill, you have to be in it to win it, let me know what your thoughts are on these new Mangas. Remember to call back tomorrow and join in the hop, leave some sugar for our DT and Guests and I will share some candy with you too.